Updating the vSAN HCL database manually
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Updating the vSAN HCL database manually

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Article ID: 315556

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSAN VMware vCenter Server VCF Operations

Issue/Introduction

 This article provides procedures to manually update the vSAN Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) database when automatic updates are not feasible, particularly in air-gapped environments or where internet connectivity from the vCenter Server or SDDC Manager is restricted.

Environment

  • VMware vSAN 7.x, 8.x, 9.x
  • VMware vCenter Server 7.x, 8.x, 9.x
  • VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) SDDC Manager 4.x, 5.x

Cause

Automatic updates fail due to lack of internet connectivity or proxy configuration issues, requiring a manual import of the all.json metadata file.

Resolution

For Standard vSphere/vSAN Environments

  1. Log in to the vSphere Client with administrator credentials.
  2. Navigate to Cluster > Monitor > vSAN > Skyline Health > Health findings > vSAN HCL DB up-to-date.
  3. If no internet access is available, click Update From File.
  4. Upload the all.json file (downloadable from https://vvs.broadcom.com/service/vsan/all.json).
  5. Click Retest.

For VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Environments

If the HCL DB warning persists in an SDDC Manager environment, use the lcm-bundle-transfer-util to ensure metadata synchronization:

  1. SSH into the SDDC Manager appliance as vcf and elevate to root.
  2. Download the latest HCL database file to your workstation.
  3. Use the following command to upload the file to the SDDC Manager:
    /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-bundle-transfer-util/bin/lcm-bundle-transfer-util --vsanHclUpload --inputDirectory /path/to/all.json
  4. Verify visibility in the SDDC Manager UI under Plan Patching.

Note: If the HCL DB update fails with "Failed to decode the HCL DB", ensure you copy the raw text from the browser URL directly into a file and save it with a .json extension to avoid encoding errors.

Additional Information

 
If the below error message appears while trying to update the HCL database manually, collect vCenter logs and open a ticket with VMware support for assistance.

'Unable to update the release catalog. Check the vSphere Client logs for details.'

If you get the following error message 'Failed to decode the HCL DB' when uploading file, open the link another tab and copy the text into notepad and then save file as all.json.
 
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